Amanda Devion – Who Says We Can’t Read This or That?

I was aware that there was a place to submit complaints about books used within schools, but didn’t know exactly where. After reading this chapter, I was enlightened about The Freedom of Expression Committee, who monitors censorship issues in Canada, including concerns from parents (p. 131). As a parent I have seen many great books come home from the school library with my son and also some not so great. So far my issues have not been with respect to the content of the books but the structure. Pokémon books are the worst! You have to read them from right to left and start at the back of the book. To me having these books available for beginner readers is setting them up to fail. My husband and I have since discussed our concerns about the books with Tanner and he understands why he should choose different books to take out from the library. A friend of mine had an issue with a Robert Munsch book called From Far Away. If you have never read the book, you can listen to it here: http://robertmunsch.com/book/from-far-away. This book came home from school with her kindergarten daughter as part of the schools ‘read with me’ program. I agree with my friends concerns partially. I believe the book can be used within the classroom within a discussion around new students and where they came from, but I would not send the book home for the parents to read with their child. When the book was returned, my friend mentioned the content of the book to the teacher that was concerning. The teacher said that she would remove the book from the ‘read with me’ books and believe it or not, the teacher hadn’t even read the book prior to sending it home with the students!

I find it interesting that the Black parents in Nova Scotia challenged the book by Barbara Smucker, Underground to Canada (p. 131). Looking it up online I discovered it is based on true facts. It seems to me as though different culture groups view their historical Canadian roots differently. On one hand the First Nations peoples want their story to be heard for future equality and then on the other Black parents of Nova Scotia don’t want their history heard for fear of future racial stereotyping. As a future white teacher, I feel stuck in the middle of two very different ideas as to how to support social justice. This is where the private sector may come into play. I’m sure there will be resources available for when I teach social justice lessons in my classroom from this group or that that can influence my lesson (p. 132-133). I already have one from The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights. It is a practical guide for human rights education called Rights in the Sun. The book is a compilation of games and activities that can be used in the classroom to promote human rights. If anyone wants to take a look at it, let me know.

Discussion Question: How do you plan on dealing with parents who have concerns with a book or group of books you are using in the classroom? What would you do if you were the teacher from my Robert Munsch example?